Dubai comedian Mina Liccione on the art of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Pioneering UAE stand-up says more Middle Eastern voices should aspire to perform at the famed event

Dubai-based comedian Mina Liccione wants comedians from the UAE to perform at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Photo: Mina Liccione

Mina Liccione is one of the most well-known comedians in the UAE. A pioneering force, she and her husband, the Emirati comedian Ali Al Sayed, founded Dubomedy in 2008 – the platform and school that has been training, fostering and guiding the comedy community in the region.

A former Broadway entertainer, Luccione has also performed solo across the Middle East and at international events, including two gigs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, one of the world's most important platforms for performers.

This year, three Dubai-based comedians are making their debut at the festival in the Scottish capital, which runs until August 26. Sunil Mashari, Sadiq Saboowala and Sahar Ali are performing joint shows across multiple days at the event.

Mashari, a British-Indian marketing and communications professional who discovered stand-up a year ago, credits the UAE's growing comedy scene for helping launch his comedy career and giving him the opportunity to perform in Edinburgh.

While the Italian-American Liccione is not part of the Fringe line-up this year, she believes the Dubai comedians' presence is an important way to represent the region.

“With riots, racial unrest and xenophobia on the rise right now in the UK, it is important to have positive stories coming from the Middle East that break negative stereotypes,” she tells The National.

“Comedy is a very powerful tool. Since the days of tribal clowning and the court jester, truth in jest and raising morale was always important to society.”

The Edinburgh Fringe is “like Disney World for performing artists,” says Liccione.

“Everywhere you look there is art – street performers, bag pipes, stand-up, theatrical circus, theatre plays and comedy. The first time I went as a visitor, I stayed for three days and attended 16 shows,” she says.

Last year Liccione and her husband, Al Sayed, did a full run of their double header show entitled Dubai Fling: Ali and Mina. It focused on their unique cross-cultural, interfaith relationship as both husband and wife and a comedy duo living in the Middle East.

“It was great to be able to perform with Ali everyday,” she says. “Stand-up is more of a solo art so getting to each perform a set and then do a double act together at the end of every show was a joy.”

“We got to use our offstage banter in the show, and it made for a great routine between us. Each show we added to it and took questions from the audience. By the end of the month we had a whole new show.”

In 2022, right after the Covid-19 pandemic, Liccione's show Growing Up Ringside, was streamed on the festival’s website. “It’s like Netflix, but for the Fringe,” she explains.

The show, which first premiered at the Dubai Comedy Festival in 2021, explored her experiences being raised in a traditional Italian-American household, before moving to the UAE.

“Even though I didn’t physically go that year, my performance that was filmed live in Dubai at the Theatre of Digital Arts was able to be part of the festival and people from around the world watched it from anywhere throughout the month,” she says.

The show was positively received and Liccione credits it for reaching a wider audience and allowing her to connect with other artists online who were presenting their shows virtually.

Performing at the Fringe helped her hone her comedic skills and even led to her changing her approach to comedy. “Getting to perform your show every day for an entire month on top of being invited to do guest spots at many other shows was wonderful,” she says.

“There’s an excitement and a buzz about the Fringe that keeps you in a creative, playful and inspired space. Each show I tried a new bit, changed up the timing, improvised with the audience.”

While both experiences at Fringe were very different, Liccione learnt quickly that even though its important to be prepared logistically, it’s also crucial to be clear about your intentions. “You must know your why before going,” she says. “Have clear objectives for yourself otherwise it’s very overwhelming.”

Liccione believes that the Fringe is a platform that regional based comedians, particularly those from the UAE, can learn from and should aspire to be present at.

“Putting on a show at Edinburgh requires a lot of hard work and writing for an international audience will only make performing artists better,” she says. “We also need more voices, authentic points of view, and to share different narratives from the Middle East.”